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People don't want to admit they are influenced by advertisements. Sure, they may succumb to the indulgent Big Mac because they saw one on a billboard during a long drive home from work, but Americans really have no idea just how much advertising they consume in the background of their lives and how much it really influences their choices.
The fact is, advertisements reach the public at a constant rate: we are bombarded by signs, flyers, TV commercials, product placements and others constantly. This has only increased with technology; one can hardly watch a 30-second YouTube video without encountering an ad the same amount of time prefacing it.
With as much advertisement thrown in our faces day in and day out, we think we're pretty good at filtering out the junk. But are we? Recent research in advertising shows that the industry targets consumers in a subliminal manner — people aren't even aware of what they're being sold. They only know that they want it.
What happens when the videos, magazine leaflets and weight loss supplement ads aren't factual? Is it ethical to provide false context for the sake of making a buck?
Magazines often show women altered by Photoshop. Is this "selling" an ideal body to Americans? Most women do not have shiny, smooth skin head to toe and a thin waist, let alone thriving skin at 50 years old like Jennifer Anniston appears to have.
Up to 87% of people think that ads for cleaning supplies are exaggerated. Ethically speaking, should ad companies take responsibility for the liberties they take when marketing products to the public?
If people are so influenced by advertisements, these companies have a duty to portray the product honestly. Failing to address a product's downsides is normal: after all, no one wants to buy a mascara that clumps beyond the first coat and smudges for the first hour after application. But the company hired to promote this product is representing a product it says will give women feathery, breezy lashes.
I'm not saying that all companies must air the pitfalls of the products they promote. Advertisement is a huge business that makes its money off of half-truths and omission. But to think about whether this is at its core ethical is an interesting supposition.
What about medical ads? How accurate are those? I find it's easy to doubt a commercial about a shake claiming to cause the user to lose 15 pounds in two weeks, but I'm not sure I am as dubious about medicine ads. After all, with all that normal-sounding jargon in there about side effects, how could I call the happy man flying a kite a liar?
A weight loss shake is a normal product to be skeptical of, but I do not find it is ethical to promote a medicine that says it will bring your grandpa back to his pre-depressive self if it also has a high chance of destroying his fragile liver.
I'm not sure how I personally feel about misleading advertisements, but I do know that they work. What the consumer does beyond that is up to them.
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